Experimental Long-Term Investigation of Model Predictive Heat Pump Control in Residential Buildings with Photovoltaic Power Generation

Sebastian Kuboth, Theresa Weith, Florian Heberle, Matthias Welzl and Dieter Brüggemann
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Sebastian Kuboth: Chair of Engineering Thermodynamics and Transport Processes (LTTT), Center of Energy Technology (ZET), University of Bayreuth, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany
Theresa Weith: Chair of Engineering Thermodynamics and Transport Processes (LTTT), Center of Energy Technology (ZET), University of Bayreuth, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany
Florian Heberle: Chair of Engineering Thermodynamics and Transport Processes (LTTT), Center of Energy Technology (ZET), University of Bayreuth, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany
Matthias Welzl: Chair of Engineering Thermodynamics and Transport Processes (LTTT), Center of Energy Technology (ZET), University of Bayreuth, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany
Dieter Brüggemann: Chair of Engineering Thermodynamics and Transport Processes (LTTT), Center of Energy Technology (ZET), University of Bayreuth, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 22, 1-17

Abstract: This article presents a 125-day experiment to investigate model predictive heat pump control. The experiment was performed in two parallel operated systems with identical components during the heating season. One of the systems was operated by a standard controller and thus represented a reference to evaluate the model predictive control. Both test rigs were heated by an air-source heat pump which is influenced by real weather conditions. A single-family house model depending on weather measurement data ensured a realistic heat consumption in the test rigs. The adapted model predictive control algorithm aimed to minimize the operational costs of the heat pump. The evaluation of the measurement results showed that the electrical energy demand of the heat pump can be reduced and the coefficient of performance can be increased by applying the model predictive controller. Furthermore, the self-consumption of photovoltaic electricity, which is calculated by means of a photovoltaic model and global radiation measurement data, was more than doubled. Consequently, the energy costs of heat pump operation were reduced by 9.0% in comparison to the reference and assuming German energy prices. The results were further compared to the scientific literature and short-term measurements were performed with the same experimental setup. The dependence of the measurement results on the weather conditions and the weather forecasting quality are shown. It was found that the duration of experiments should be as long as possible for a comprehensive evaluation of the model predictive control potential.

Keywords: building energy systems; building energy management; model predictive control (MPC); heat pump; HVAC systems; PV self-consumption (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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